


Communication (Or Lack There Of)

by enjolrascore



Category: Mortal Instruments Series - Cassandra Clare, Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Anxious Alec, Communication, Light Angst, M/M, Magnus just wants to have a healthy conversation, Prompt Fill, i have no clue how to tag this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-08
Updated: 2016-10-08
Packaged: 2018-08-20 05:10:32
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,634
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8237257
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/enjolrascore/pseuds/enjolrascore
Summary: Request fill for this: Hey! I was wondering if you could write like a sequel type thing to "Hold on to me, cuz I'm a little Unsteady" where Magnus is trying to get Alec to open up and talk to him about his social anxiety, or even trying to get him to see a therapist, but Alec just keeps changing the subject or avoiding him or something?
Is a sequel to "Hold on to me, cuz I'm a little Unsteady", but could probably be read as a standalone





	

**Author's Note:**

> This is for alexandracap11 on tumblr!  
> Oh wow, this took way longer to write than it should have, super sorry about that! This is sort of shaky, but I hope you enjoy it anyway! Not beta read, all mistakes are my own

It had been about a week since Alec’s meltdown at Magnus’s party. Magnus wanted to talk about it, and actually have a real conversation, but Alec just wouldn’t. Every time Magnus would bring it up, he would change the subject. And Magnus tried to bring it up a lot.

It started the morning after the party, the two having gone to bed soon after finishing their movie. Magnus woke up before Alec, for once, and he just waited for a moment before leaning in to kiss Alec on the cheek. He kept pressing feather light kisses to his face, waking him up gently.

“Mm, good morning.” Alec hummed happily, his voice still sluggish from sleep.

“Morning, Love.” Magnus replied, smiling as Alec pulled him into a real kiss.

Magnus pulled back and reached up to drag a thumb across Alec’s bottom lip. He trailed his fingers up along Alec’s cheeks.

He hesitated for a moment, before gently saying, “So, about last night…”

Alec tensed immediately, “What about it?”

“I just think we should talk about it.”

“And I just think that I should go get some coffee,” Alec moved and got out of bed, “Do you want anything?”

“Alexander, come on. This is important.”

“I don’t want to talk about it, Magnus. Also, I’ll take that as a no on the coffee.”

Magnus sighed and just let Alec leave, knowing that it was useless to argue with him at this point. He could just try again later. Or at least he thought he could. A few days later Alec was talking about some meeting later in the day that he didn’t want to go to, and Magnus thought he should try to bring it up again.

“So,” Magnus started, “Do you just not want to see your parents, or?”

“Or what?” Alec questioned, glancing over.

“It’s not making you anxious, or anything, is it?”

Alec’s expression changed instantly, “Magnus, I thought we discussed this.”

“I mean, we didn’t really, you kind of shut me down. We need to talk about this.”

“I’m fine, Magnus, just drop it. I have to go, anyway, I don’t want to be late.” Magnus tried to protest, but Alec already had one shoe on and was making for the door.

He threw a quick “bye” over his shoulder, before the door slammed shut. Magnus sighed, flopping back on the couch. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and sent a quick text to Izzy.

_Has Alexander always rejected healthy conversations, or am I just special?_

**Izzy-** _Not just you. Alec won’t let anyone help him until he breaks down. Why, what’s wrong?_

_He had a problem at one of my parties, and now he won’t talk about it. I just wish he’d open up about his problems._

**Izzy-** _You’re just gonna have to wait him out. I’ll see if I can talk with him about it._

_Thank you._

He tossed his phone on the table and rubbed his hands over his eyes, feeling even more defeated than before. He closed his eyes, and, before he even realized it, he was waking up to the annoying sound of his phone buzzing. He reached out blindly and answered it.

“Hello?”

“Did you seriously tell Iz on me?” Alec’s irritated voice came through the receiver.

Magnus sat up, “Pardon?”

“Izzy told me that you said I’m avoiding healthy conversations. What did you tell her, and why?”

“I may have mentioned that you don’t want to talk about...some things, but it was just out of worry. I just felt like you didn’t feel comfortable talking to me and I just felt insecure, I guess.”

“Magnus, of course I feel comfortable talking to you, I told you that. It’s just that I don’t think this is an issue, and I feel like you’re making a bigger deal out of this than it needs to be.”

“Well, I disagree. You need help, Alec.”

Alec just sighed, “We’ll talk when I get home, I have to get going. I love you.”

“I love you, too.” Magnus hung up and set his phone down, running his hands through his hair.

He decided that it would just be best to wait for Alec to get home before overthinking, so he turn on the TV and just mindlessly watched. He wasn’t sure how long it was until the door to the flat opened. He looked up and the two just stared at each other, before Alec spoke.

“So, are we going to talk about the obvious?”

“Might as well,” Magnus sighed.

“Really, Magnus?” Alec demanded, “You had to bring Izzy into this?”

“I just wanted to know if it was just me that you didn’t want to talk to, or if it was normal for you. I didn’t tell her anything.”

“That’s the problem; you didn’t tell her anything. She spent a solid hour asking me what was so bad that I couldn’t talk to my boyfriend about it. I did talk to you about it; I told you to drop it.”

“I just don’t think that’s healthy, Alexander. You should at least be open to talking to me about what upsets you.”

“Fine, let’s talk about what’s upsetting me, this is what’s upsetting me! I told you that I don’t want help, and you just keep pushing it, and I just don’t understand why this is such a big deal to you!”

“I’ve explained to you why this is a big deal, and I don’t know how I can explain it any better.” Alec angrily ran his fingers through his hair, “You know, I think I’ll just go back to The Institute, tonight. The Clave members should be gone by now, and I can just spend the night to cool off.”

Magnus just nodded silently, and watched as Alec grabbed an overnight bag. He shoved some clothes and a toothbrush in, zipping it up and slinging it over his shoulder.

“I’ll see you tomorrow. Love you.” Alec said over his shoulder as he opened the front door.

“Love you.” Magnus responded, but the door slammed before he was finished.

Magnus didn’t really sleep that night, and the next morning wasn’t much better. Alec came back closer to noon, and the two didn’t talk much for the rest of the day. Apologies were exchanged, they cuddled on the couch and watched TV, and went to bed; but they were dancing around each other the entire time. This went on for a few days, until everything died down.

It took Alec a few weeks to finally come around to the idea that Magnus might be right. They had gone to a small get together that Catarina had thrown for her work; something about one of her coworkers getting a promotion, and for some reason the duo had been invited. For the majority of the party, Magnus and Alec just followed Catarina around, Magnus very aware of how Alec was feeling.

Alec seemed to be doing fine, talking to the guests and occasionally sipping at his glass of wine. Magnus wanted to check in, but he didn’t want to start another argument in front of everyone, so he stayed quiet. Everything seemed to be going fine, they’d been mingling for a few hours, but something shifted in Alec’s demeanor.

He quickly turned to Cat, “Hey, where’s your bathroom?”

“Down the hall, to the left.” Cat replied distractedly.

Magnus watched as Alec quickly walked away from the crowd, and waited a moment before turning to Cat, “Does he seem off to you?”

“Um, a little, he’s just gotten pretty quiet. Why, is something wrong?”

“I’m about to go find out. I’ll be right back, hold my drink.”

Cat took his glass as Magnus moved passed her. Magnus weaved through the crowd and made his way to the bathroom. He gently knocked on the door, and waited until he heard the lock click. He took that as his hint to come in and quickly slipped in, closing the door behind him. Alec was leaning against the counter, clutching his glass of wine.

“What do you need me to do?” Magnus asked timidly.

“I think I need help, Magnus. You were right, I need to talk to you about this, I need help.” Alec stumbled through his sentence.

“Okay, we can talk about it when we get home, Love. Do you want to leave now?”

“Yes, please.”

“Okay, I’ll let Cat know. I’ll come get you in a second; also hand me your glass.”

Magnus took the glass and left, walking out to the living room.

“Catarina,” He called out, “Can I borrow you for a moment?”

“Yeah, sure.” Cat said, walking over to Magnus, “What’s up?”

Magnus gestured to the kitchen and Cat followed him, “Alec and I are going to have to leave, he’s having a rough time. Thank you for inviting us, though, we had fun.”

“Okay, no problem. Is Alec okay?”

“He’s fine, crowds just make him anxious and he’s reached his limit.”

“Alright, well, I hope you guys have a good night. Be safe, and make sure Alec feels better.”

“I will, thank you.”

They exchanged a quick hug and Magnus went back to retrieve Alec.

“Time to go.” He said, holding his hand out.

Alec took his hand and let Magnus lead him out. They said their goodbyes to Cat, and made their leisurely walk home. When they got back to the flat, they sat down and had a conversation about the night. By the end of it, Magnus had a better idea of how to help Alec, and Alec felt more comfortable talking about his problems. After that, they stopped going to events that would cause Alec anxiety, and, when panic attacks happened, Magnus was able to handle them much better.

Things were much better.

**Author's Note:**

> Come check me out on tumblr @sapphiceponine, my requests are currently open (""rules"" linked in my about)  
> I hope you enjoyed


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